The annual Summer Exhibition at London’s Royal Academy of Arts previewed in oppressive metropolitan heat that made the air-conditioned upstairs rooms in which the show is traditionally housed all the more appealing. As ever, there seemed to be something for all tastes and budgets, with the usual hint of incredulity hanging in the air as the various contributors – from established doyens to budding hopefuls – presented their work to the world.
This year, half the rooms are done in off-white, and the rest in different pastel shades, so most of the colour comes from the pieces themselves. The Wohl Central Hall is done in a dusty pink, which clashes loudly with a mobile of indigo drapery called poem in the dark about sadness. Its creator, Richard Malone, describes it as “a sculpture that centres gesture, personal action and queer working-class Irish and immigrant identities”.
